A blog about me, my Standard Poodle, Teddy, and whatever else I feel like including.
"[Poodles] are Labradors with a college education. After a day of retrieving, your Lab wants to curl up and snore in front of the fire. A poodle wants to be a fourth at bridge and tell naughty stories." -Anne Rogers Clark

Friday, February 15, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day!

A belated Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

I had dinner with my family and took Teddy out for some training. I probably would not have gone if we did not have a trial this weekend. In agility class we did some Greg Derrett box work. From what I have seen of the Greg Derrett system, I really like and think it could help us in our training. The box work consists of 4 jumps set up in a square with possibly other jumps used as an adjoining square or just sides of the square. I was really proud of Teddy last night. He was really working with me and trying to follow my lead- that is except for a slight distraction gathering some treats that fell out of my pocket. He is doing his part to reduce the bug problem before summer gets here.

Afterwards we went inside to work on the broad jump, the real reason I needed to train last night. I was very pleased that he jumped it eagerly with me looking straight ahead and not at him. I guess I really was cueing him with my body language. It's amazing how they pick up on the slightest movement. I had built in distractions of the sub-novice obedience class on the other side of the ring gating, and I added in people standing at the end of the jump, with success. We'll have to wait and see if this pays off at the trial this weekend. My stomach is churning already!